I used to have really terrible cramps that always required ibuprofen just to function and sometimes even with the ibuprofen I could not function at all. I got on Nuvaring a few months ago and now even without ibuprofen my cramps are like a mild discomfort rather then pain. I feel so much better in general, I don't know why I waited so long to go on hormonal birth control, its been the best decision ever.

I had EXTREMELY bad cramps when I was in highschool, to the point where I couldn't go to class and was stuck by the toilet vomiting every ten minutes. They were horrible! When I was 16 I got on the pill, and since then, I have felt fine! It was like a miracle!

Mine used to be so bad, that the only thing I could do to help them was to stand on my bed and "walk" the way you would if you were climbing stairs, lifting one foot up at a time. I used to get lightheaded from the pain, too. Thankfully, they got better, but I still have them.

I'm a weird case--I have pretty debilitating cramps, like, horrible, but simple ibuprofen gets rid of them! That stuff that's made specifically for period cramps is TOO strong, it makes me sick to my stomach. I guess oversensitivity to meds is really a good thing in some cases. xD

I voted for 2,3, and 4. My cramp pain level varies from period to period. Sometimes they are really bad and other times not so much. I think a lot of it depends on my diet and stress level for that month.

I voted for 2,3, and 4. My cramp pain level varies from period to period. Sometimes they are really bad and other times not so much. I think a lot of it depends on my diet and stress level for that month.

My cramps are terrible. If I don't take anything, I throw up from the pain. I also get very weak and shaky because of them. When I'm in pain, I faint. So I -always- have to take something for it. Unfortunately, if the cramps have already started before I take something, even just a very dull background pain at first, it will take at least six to eight hours before the pills will take effect. So I pretty much just lay in bed and do nothing so that I don't wake up on the floor somewhere wondering how I got there.

I never used to have cramps but after I had a copper IUD inserted I got my first cramps. Sometimes they get bad enough that I take something but I try to work through it. I am hoping when I get it removed, I will go back to my simpler periods when it was literally blood coming out of my vagina and nothing else.

Mine are really bad but usually just last for one day, pills don't seem to have an effect anymore. I'll be in pain for an hour, sometimes a heating pad will help, other times it does nothing. Usually I just wake up not knowing I feel asleep, I guess after my body finally get relief it does into resting mode.

Mine make me sick (vomiting, etc) and miserable and I can't take hormonal birth control to help them. I don't know what to do but at 20 years old and with no children I wouldn't turn down a hysterectomy if it was offered!

How bad are your period cramps? Do you use anything to help with the pain, if so what?

I wind up trapped in bed, sometimes vomiting and everything. I've been prescribed medication for them, so that when I actually have them, they're not /so/ bad, but right now I take birth control back to back so that I don't have periods at all.